VPN over slow Internet connections

Brandon Kim brandon.kim at brandontek.com
Thu Apr 21 17:06:36 UTC 2011


If I had to guestimate, the performance would be horrible considering the VPN overhead in itself.

You can't choose UDP or TCP, that is all based on the applications being used within the tunnel.
So the apps will decide what protocols they will need to use, which will then be encapsulated by IPSEC.

It could work, but you may not be happy and it may not provide the desired performance that you need
to be productive....




> Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:55:32 +0100
> From: bw-ml at mube.co.uk
> To: nanog at nanog.org
> Subject: VPN over slow Internet connections
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Can anyone share any thoughts or experiences for VPN links running over 
> slow Internet connections, typically 2kB/s - 3kB/s (think 33.6k modem)?
> 
> We are looking into utilising OpenVPN for out-of-office workers who 
> would be running mobile broadband in rural areas. Typical data across 
> the wire would be SQL queries for custom applications and not much else.
> 
> Some initial thoughts include...
> 
>    * How well would the connection handle certificate (>= 2048 bit key) 
> based authentication?
>    * Is UDP or TCP better considering the speed and possibility of 
> packet loss (no figures to hand)?
>    * Is VPN over this type of connection simply a bad idea?
> 
> Many thanks in advance.
> 
> Kind regards,
> Ben Whorwood
> 
 		 	   		  


More information about the NANOG mailing list